


Scotch On Rock Bottom

by The_Magic_Lava_Lamp



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 06:35:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16057544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp/pseuds/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp
Summary: Bill takes a look at himself and decides that he doesn’t like what he sees.Bill Denbrough & the ghost of his memory





	Scotch On Rock Bottom

‘Nobody tells you there is a downfall of love. Or maybe he’s just a pessimist and the downfall was really caused by his own failing attitude. Whichever it is, Bill didn’t want to think about it. Because lately that was the way he operated. If it’s shitty, don’t think about it. God Forbid you do anything about it.

He thought maybe he used to be somewhat of a leader as a child but at this point in his life, did it really matter what he was like when he was eleven or twelve? The answer was no.’  
{}

 

Bill took another long sip of his drink. He was twenty-one going on sixty, it seemed. And his sad life had brought him to a bar on Saturday night. He was trying to push any of the important thoughts from his mind by useless half-baked memories….which may actually turn out to be important. 

A ghost of a memory from when he was twelve shadowed into the back of his mind. And for a moment, it scared him. Because he found that in his ageing, his childhood was but a blurry dream. 

 

{}  
‘He had his head tilted down, because he was only just tall enough to be on a higher level than the ice cream display, a trait that he had that he was sure got on a shorter friend, that he suspected he had,’s nerves. And he was attempting to order, probably something so sugary it’d make him sick. And those flavors always had some odd long name…which was a struggle for him. And then the man, after interrupting him and finishing his order for him, had asked….

“Do you think with a stutter?” 

Bill hadn’t been sure if he’d meant it as a joke or not. He had opened and closed his mouth but the man held out his hand in a ‘hold it’ position. 

“You don’t have to answer if it’ll take long.” And then he laughed, scooping tainted ice cream into a cone and shoving it into Bill’s hand. 

He turned on his heels on the tile floor, although he almost felt the static of the carpet in his mothers study. “He th-tha-thrusts his f-fists against the p-pa-post-” ‘  
{}

 

Bill isn’t sure if he successfully made it through that round of his speech exercise but he doubts he did. He shook his near empty glass, the almost reddish liquid swirled and pooled over the rocks on the bottom…

He ran his hand down the side of his face and rested his chin on his open palm.

‘Maybe it wasn’t so bad. So he was getting bitter prematurely? At least he was getting a head start on something, right?’ 

 

Bill shook his head and denied another drink when the bartender came around again. 

 

‘He supposed things might get better if he was….well to be blatant, less alone. There was a time in his life that again, was only coming out of the fog as he sat here, that he felt great love. Some romantic and some not. 

And maybe if he had that again…..’ 

 

The door to the bar flung open, bringing a cold chill that scampered down Bill’s spine. It brought his attention to the door. 

He put out his money and got up, waving as he left the joint and pulled at his jacket as he went past the doorway and out to the town. He flicked his hair, it was already beginning to thin as his publishing friend had nicely pointed out. 

He’d been oddly sentimental tonight. And if that was the route he was going, might as well enhance it by giving into it. 

So he took himself to the Ice Cream Diner place down the street. And he ordered himself something strawberry flavored. 

Now that he was older, he much preferred to eat the cold treat from a bowl. Sticky hands were just an inconvenience that cones caused. 

And he sat at a round table, by himself, digging his tiny pink spoon in the bowl. This time, he’d been much taller than the display. And no one asked about his stutter…because it really wasn’t too noticeable. 

The neon lights of the sign over his head blinked, he narrowed his eyes. It was ridiculous but if he did that combined with that annoying blinking light, the town almost looked like….Derry? 

Bill immediately opened his eyes wide again. Only when he was searching for inspiration for his most twisted stories, did Bill try and remember the look & feel of that…

Hell Hole as he’d wanted to say so many times as a kid but for some reason refrained. It wasn’t as if he was afraid of swear words. In fact, 

 

{}  
‘ “S-s-s-shit.” Bill frowned, face twisting. 

“I like it when you stutter when you swear. It’s funny.” A voice that he could truly hear in his head spoke. 

“Beep Beep, Dick.” Came another.’  
{}

 

At the moment, Bill felt a ripple of comfort as he recalled that second voice. It might’ve even been his best friend. 

And sad as it was, Bill didn’t have anything close to a best friend anymore. Maybe it’s because he’d just been more likable as a child. Or maybe because he drove people away, on purpose. 

 

‘What good drinking did. It just made him introspective.’

 

Bill scooped up some of his ice cream and pushed the spoon past his lips, letting it rest there for a few moments. Missing friends that he could barely remember was not something he should be wasting his time on, was it?

He watched a passing truck on the street flash it’s lights at a man attempting to cross. 

Bill willed the guy to move faster but he just kept strolling, the car attempted to whip past him with urgency. So Bill closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything. 

But when his eyes opened, the man was safely across. He blew a sigh of relief, swallowing the cold cream. 

The man seemed to take notice of Bill staring and he waved slwoly, like it was a normal thing to do. 

Bill froze before waving weakly back. In that moment, Bill saw the storm drain only a few inches in front of the man now. His heart dropped and he wondered for a minute why that was. 

He shoved the little dish of ice cream away from him on the table and curled on himself like he had a stomachache. 

 

‘It was time to go home.’

 

Bill got up and started his walk again. 

 

‘Something about tonight had been off and strange. But for some reason he knew that when he got home, it’d go back to normal.’


End file.
